Town of Phippsburg 2012 Annual Report

124
2012 ANNUAL REPORT
Police Department Report
In 2012 the Police Department responded to a myriad of calls and saw a few changes to the
Department. We responded to 853 incidents ranging from thefts of fuel, home alarms, burglaries,
providing traffic control at Popham, traffic offenses, etc. If you have any information that
might help solve a crime please call and leave a message at the Town Hall or come and see me
in person.
We had a hiring process to fill the open part time Patrol Officer position of Doug Alexander
who had stepped down in the fall of 2011. We had a couple of candidates apply and we hired
Shaun Cavanaugh of Bath who was working as a full time Sagadahoc Regional Communications
Dispatcher. Unfortunately for us a day after he completed our part time training the City
of Bath offered him a full time Police Officer position. They sent him to the Full Time Academy
and he graduated and is working the road up there now. This occurred in June and it was
too late and busy to start a new hiring process as we were swamped with our busy summer season.
So we plan to have a new part time Officer hired and trained for this summer.
In June we received our new 2013 Ford Police Interceptor from Augusta Ford. The cruiser
replaced our 2003 Ford Crown Victoria which we had purchased used about five years ago.
This new cruiser is a bit smaller but more fuel efficient and has all-wheel drive. We average
between 17-19 miles per gallon on the v-6 engine. This new car still has more horse power than
our old v-8 which got about 12 miles to the gallon. The old cruiser was put out to bid. We updated
our graphics deciding to go with black and silver vs. the blue and silver. We kept the
cruiser silver in color, to honor the ballot vote we took back in 2003 at Phippsburg Elementary
School to determine what color the children of the community wanted the cruiser to be. Karen
Libby, a Town resident who works for Banana Banners, came up with the new more modern
design while still including the traditional door patch. The graphics are reflective to help improve
visibility and safety on the roadways. We are very thankful to have the new cruiser on
the road and for the many compliments we have received from residents and visitors alike on
the distinct look of it. The new cruiser now has approximately 15,000 miles on it.
This is my twelfth year working in Phippsburg and my twenty-second year working as a
Police Officer. Unfortunately in our line of work sometimes we have to respond to some pretty
serious calls such as fatal crashes, unattended deaths and suicides. These calls are very difficult
to deal with for everyone involved. I encourage anyone who might be struggling from the grief
of such a tragedy to seek counseling. Call or visit your Primary Care Physician and they can
refer you to a counselor. If you are struggling with depression, alcoholism, drug abuse, or other
mental illness and need help call or visit your doctor. You can also call the Maine 24 Hour Crisis
Hotline at 1-888-568-1112. If you are a family member or friend of someone who is struggling,
you can call the Crisis line as well or call 911 if something is imminent. If we receive a
call about a person who is depressed and might harm themselves, it’s our job to speak with that
person. We will take them into Protective Custody and bring them to a local hospital if they
meet certain criteria. We all can work through these matters together to try and bring the best
possible outcome. We can’t control all things in life, but we can make a difference with our
positive words of hope and helping hands during those difficult times.
I want to remind all our residents that there continue to be so many scams that are being perpetuated
on our residents nationally, regionally and locally. They range from the “Grandma I
am in jail in Mexico” scam in which they try and get you to wire money to a location to bail
your relative out, to the “Nigerian Lottery” scams, in which you are told you won a lottery and